Event details

As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year and the President has promised to end combat operations in Iraq by 2010, the Dole Institute of Politics will host a conversation with senior military and government officials in Iraq during a two-part video teleconference titled “Iraq: What Next?” on Sunday, April 5. The program is co-sponsored by the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth.
“As the new administration’s focus switches to the unfinished war in Afghanistan, the conflict in Iraq still persists and is of great concern to many Americans,” said Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute. “This program is an opportunity to ask questions in live-time to officials in Iraq who know what is going on currently and where the situation may be headed.”
The program will consist of two parts. Part one of the program is a discussion at 8 a.m. between regional college students and students in Iraq. Students from Baghdad University, the University of Kansas, Northwest Missouri State University, Kansas State University and Wichita State University will participate in an open conversation discussing issues that concern young people on a global level, particularly the difficulty of obtaining an education during wartime. The discussion will be moderated by Jonathan Earle, associate director of the Dole Institute.
Part two of the program begins at 1 p.m. and features senior military and Iraqi officials in conversation with Kansas political figures. Panelists joining the event from Baghdad include:
· Major General David Perkins, Director of Strategic Effects for the USA multi-national force in Iraq,
· Dr. Ali al-Dabbaugh, spokesman for the Government of Iraq,
· U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Adam Ereli, and
· Major General Qassim Atta, military spokesman for the Government of Iraq.
These officials will participate in a discussion moderated by Lacy.
Both sessions are free and open to the public and will include time for questions from the general public. They will be held in the Simons Media Room at the Dole Institute.